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Witches
Witches are a species of the Night World. They are supernatural creatures skilled in spellcasting, witchcraft, mental influence and command of the elements. Several characters of the Night World series are witches or relatives of their kind. Physiology Among the Nightpeople, witches are the members who most closely resemble humans in terms of appearance (albeit more beautiful) and mortality. Though the witches are called "Daughters of Hellewise", male witches do exist, but not nearly as many as female witches, which in the past had prompted the witches to take human husbands to continue the species. The powers of a witch are an inborn trait. The purpose of spells is to better focus this inherent power, utilizing natural mediums and incantations, combined with intent and emotion, to manifest what the given witch wishes to achieve. Without spell craft, the power of a witch will manifest as a random psychic event, such as telekinesis or prophetic visions, but these manifestations will be uncontrolled and might endanger those nearby, including the witch themselves. Witch Culture and Society Witches usually are given names that represent a certain deity or natural element, while surnames are always reflective of a special attribute or ability of the given clan. Historically, all witches are called "Daughters of Hellewise", as they trace their ancestry through her (although members of the Harman Family are in particular Hellewise's direct descendants). Witches regard one another on familiar terms, the formal greeting among them being "Unity", and despite rank consider one another equals (the concept of prejudice or racism, as shown by the witch Dani Abforth, are unknown among the witch clans). Witches are shown to be polytheistic, as they call upon and worship a variety of ancient goddesses, gods and spirits, often asking them for aid in their spells. Most witches have a particular favorite deity, and on special celebrations may dress in the image of such idols. As they are mortal, witches accept the concept of death, believing that when they die, their spirits ascend and go the afterlife, called "the Other Side". However, advanced witches are capable of calling back the spirits of the dead, specifically during the celebration of Samhain, when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead are thinnest. Furthermore, in times of great need, a witch has the power to even call back their ancestress, Hellewise. Witches are a matriarchal community; all children of witches inherit legally from their mother's bloodline, and take their mother's surname, rather than their father's. Even if the father is human (which did occur prior to the 16th and 17th centuries), so long as the mother was a witch, their child was also officially counted as a witch as well, and as a member of the mother's clan. The community of witches is always led by a Maiden, Mother, and Crone, in addition to the Inner Circle. The current leaders are Aradia as Maiden, Mother Cybele as Mother, and Grandma Harman as Crone. The Maiden represents young and teenage witches, and will one day become the Mother, and then the Crone. The Crone is always the oldest of the direct descendants of Hellewise. In some cases, witches can become emeshed in human society and ultimately lose their identity as witches. When this occurs, the witch and any of her descendants are considered lost witches, or psychics. The Night World symbol for witches is a black dahlia. An additional, more obscure signet for the witch species is a cresent moon with three stars. Circles Witch society is composed of two Circles (originally three), each of which a given witch chooses to belong, although they make their permanent choice once they become eighteen. The Circles consist of Circle Twilight and Circle Midnight. Those of Circle Twilight were considered the less drastic of the witches in their hatred of human beings, and held respect for all life in accordance with the Wiccan Rede ("And in harm none, do what ye will"). In contrast, Circle Midnight consisted of those witches who were active in their stand against humans, even resorting to torture and killing at whim, and practicing far darker spells. A third, exinct circle, Circle Daybreak, had once existed, which encouraged good relations between witches, other Nightpeople, and human beings. However, with the persecution of witches during the Burning Times, the circle was disbanded (though it was revived during the 20th century) A fourth Circle, the Inner Circle, is a coven of 9 of the most powerful witches, "the geniuses, far-seers, prodigies, the teachers...". As leaders, the Maiden, Mother, and Crone are also part of this Circle. They are the governing body of the witches and act as their representatives among the joint Night World council. Its members include: *Aradia *Mother Cybele *Grandma Harman *Rhys *Old Bob *Belfana *Creon *Nana Buruku *Aunt Ursula History Prehistoric Times The witch clans had originally been led by Hecate Witch-Queen, the ancestress of all witches, and her twin daughters: Maya and Hellewise. Under Hecate, the witch clans were involved in the battle between the witches and the dragons, which resulted in the defeat and enchantment of the entire dragons species; only the youngest was spared, the progenitress of the Drache family. However, some time after this battle, Hecate passed away, and her daughters became the rulers of the tribe. Unfortunately, Maya sought immortality and her quest for it eventually made her the first made vampire. After Maya converted her close friend Theorn into a made vampire and ruthlessly killed many others, Hellewise fought her sister in the first Night War and defeated her, driving Maya and her son Red Fern from the tribe. Hellewise then subsequently died of her injuries sustained in the battle. Ever since this first Night War, the witches and vampires have been engaged in a century-long blood feud with one another. Ultimately, the reign of the witches was brought to an end by the Ice Age, after which the vampires rose to power over the world. Colonial Times The feud continued into the 16th and 17th century. However, among the vampires, a predicament developed: Hunter Redfern, the current leader of Maya's descendants (the Redferns) and representative of the vampires, had no male heir. Therefore, to end the Night Wars, the Redfern patriarch agreed to perform a blood-tie ceremony with the leader of the witches at the time, Maeve Harman , who was tired of the bloodshed, which formally ended the Night Wars and united the witches and vampires as Night World citizens. During this time additionally, the third circle, Circle Daybreak, was disbanded with the persecution of Nightpeople at the hands of humans. Enclaves were then formed as safe havens for the Night World's denizens. Modern Day The witches continued their existence even in the present day; Edgith Harman, the eldest of the Harman clan, eventually rose to the position of Crone among the witch circles as well as their representative. However, troubles began appearing for them when Thea Harman (and later other Harmans) found a soulmate among humans. When brought before the Inner Circle, in spite of Thea demonstrating great power, even being able to call on her ancestress Hellewise, Thea had no choice but to leave the Night World and her family. In light of this event, Grandma Harman had begun to ruminate on the possibility of reviving Circle Daybreak. With aid from Theorn, now the vampire lord Thierry Descouedres, the circle is restored, acting primarily as a place for those Nightpeople finding human soulmates, as well as for those humans who learn of the Night World's existence and seek harmony for all. Due to friction with the Night World during the emergence of the Wild Powers, the witches formally seceded from the Night World after the disappearance of their Maiden, and officially joined Circle Daybreak, seeking to protect humans from the apocalypse. The witches would unfortunately lose their Crone to the Night World after this defiance; the Crone is attacked and killed by shapeshifters working for the Night World in Witchlight; Mother Cybele becomes their new leader after this tragedy. To boost their strength and unite with the shapeshifter clans, the witches agreed to a promise ceremony between the son of the First House and the legendary Witch Child, a Harman witch and the third Wild Power. The treaty goes through but not as originally planned; the Witch Child, Iliana, instead unites the two species by conducting a blood-tie with the shapeshifter Keller, after learning her intended fiance, Galen, is Keller's soulmate. This action formally unites the two species. Powers and Abilities *'Spellcasting': Witches will use natural mediums (stones, plants, animal parts, etc.) and incantations in order to focus their power to achieve a specific goal. Also integral to spellcasting is the intentions and emotional level of the witch casting it. *'Potion Making': Witches are able to brew special potions for a given aim. This can include truth serums and potions to make a person forget things. The more powerful potions are sealed and kept from most witches to prevent misuse. *'Premonitions/Clairvoyant Dreams/Visions': A rare ability among witches is the power to see the future; this ability can vary and be either very weak or quite strong. As such, those that can, such as the Maiden Aradia, are revered. Those witches that possess this technique cannot fully control when their visions come. *'Mind Control': Similar to vampires, witches can, even without touching a human, influence their minds, implanting new ideas and notions directly into the brain. * Witchlight: Notably due to the rising of the Old Powers, witches have developed a power known as witchlight: the manifestation of energy in the form of colored flames that can be used as an attack technique. Noted colors have been orange and amber, although the spectrum and strength of such colors are unknown (though the only one unavailable to ordinary witches is blue). Weaknesses Due to having similar physiology to humans, witches are susceptible to many of the weaknesses humans are, including disease and old age. They can be heavily injured, and are also known to have allergic reactions to substances, including spells, as the Maiden Aradia had once been accidentally poisoned by a truth potion and suffered a near-fatal reaction to it. However, there is one highly notable weakness for witches. *'Iron': akin to wood for vampires, the element of iron acts like a poison to the bloodstream of a witch, and is extremely lethal to their kind. Notable Witches Stone Age *Hecate Witch-Queen *Hellewise Hearth-Woman *Iluna Hearth-Woman Renaissance-Colonial Times *Walstan Harman *Nicholas Harman *Phoebe Garner *Maeve Harman *Roseclear Harman *Corisande Harman *Suzanne Blanchet Early 1900s *Sybil Harman *Edgith Harman *Elspeth Harman *Emmeth Harman 20th Century *The Inner Circle *Gisele Maigny *Jesse North (father of the twins Poppy and Phillip, a lost witch) *Phillip North (formerly a lost witch) *Thea Harman *Blaise Harman *Dani Abforth *Vivienne Morrigan *Selene Lucna *Alaric Breedlove *Tobias *Gillian Lennox (formerly a lost Harman witch) *Melusine *Gary Fargeon (formerly a lost witch; had died and remained for some time as a spirit) *Circe *Sylvia Weald (bitter over being rejected by the Harman clan, she places her allegiance with the Night World and abandons her heritage as a witch) *Winfrith "Winnie" Arlin *Iliana Dominick (formerly a lost witch; the prophesied Witch Child) *Anna Dominick (a lost Harman witch, mother of Iliana and Alex Dominick) *Mary Harman (a lost Harman witch, mother of Anna Dominick) *Alex Dominick (brother of Iliana, son of Anna Dominick) Former Witches *Maya Dragonslayer (the first made vampire; formerly a witch, yet despite her transformation, she has retained her spellcasting ability) *Poppy North (formerly a lost witch; converted into a made vampire by her soulmate) Disputed Status *Thierry Descouedres (before being changed into a vampire, he had been stated as being a member of the witch tribe to which Maya and Hellewise belonged, leading to speculation that Thierry might have been a witch himself before his transformation) *Mal Harman (stated to be a vampire-witch hybrid) Trivia *The "royalty" of the witches is the Harman Family. *In contrast with the lamia, witches are matriarchal. *All witches trace their heritage to Hellewise Hearth-Woman. *Most witches have seceeded from the Night World and joined Circle Daybreak, with the exception of the darkest Circle Midnight witches. *Technically, witches are responsible for the creation of the vampire race. **Before she was turned, Maya Dragonslayer was a witch but in her quest for immortality, she performed a spell by drinking the blood of four of her tribe's babies and became the first vampire in existence. Her descendants became the lamia and those who she turned became made vampires. *Appropriately, male witches are called "Sons of Hellewise". *The very first witch introduced to the series was Poppy North, albeit as a lost witch. The first trained witch introduced was Gisele Maigny, a friend to James Rasmussen. ' Witch-Spells.png Witch-Potions.png Witch-Energy-Blast.png Witch-Thermal-Blast.png Witch-Vampire-Mind-Manipulation.png|Mind Manipulation ' Category:Characters Category:Witches Category:Species